Washington, DC, asked the federal government for permission to add thousands of low-income adults to the Medicaid program, becoming one of the first jurisdictions to respond to an expansion of Medicaid eligibility in the new federal healthcare law, the Washington Post reports. The request, if approved, would allow the District to switch 35,000 individuals from an insurance program funded by city taxpayers to the Medicaid program, which is mostly paid for with federal funds. The city expects to save $56 million over four years by expanding Medicaid coverage to include low-income adults who cannot not afford private insurance but earn too much to qualify for Medicaid under the old rules.
